Griffin's Redskins Outpace the Giants Late

Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III breaks off a 46-yard run in the third quarter. He also led a game-winning, fourth-quarter drive.
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By

Jonathan Clegg

Updated Dec. 4, 2012 12:58 a.m. ET

LANDOVER, Md.—Late in the fourth quarter, with the Giants locked in a tense tussle with the Washington Redskins, the similarities were striking.

Just as in the Week 7 meeting between these teams, Robert Griffin III had rallied the Redskins to a fourth-quarter lead over the Giants. And just as in that game, Eli Manning had the ball and a chance to complete another memorable comeback.

NYG - 16

WAS - 17

But the comparisons ended there. This time, there was no dramatic late rally, no miracle pass to Victor Cruz. Instead, the Giants ended a back-and-forth game on the wrong side of a 17-16 score line and locked in what looks like a divisional dogfight.

Washington's win capped a standout game from Griffin, who celebrated his first appearance on Monday Night Football by breaking the rookie record for quarterback rushing yards in a single season. He finished with 235 combined yards and left the field to raucous cheers from a jubilant sellout crowd at FedEx Field.

"I think stats don't really matter," Griffin said afterward. "We won the game and we made plays in crucial situations."

Fittingly, Griffin clinched the win with an 8-yard pass to Pierre Garcon with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Giants had two further possessions but were unable to respond. Their final drive was doomed by a holding penalty, one of nine committed by the Giants on the night, and the Redskins ran out the final four minutes to seal the win.

The loss leaves the Giants with a precarious lead in the NFC East standings. With four games remaining, they are now just a game ahead of Washington and Dallas. Making matters worse, they trail Washington on a tiebreaker thanks to their 2-3 divisional record. The Redskins are 3-1 in divisional games.

The game had been billed as a matchup between Manning, the Giants' unflappable two-time Super Bowl MVP, and Griffin, the Redskins' heart-stopping rookie passer, and it duly emerged as a study in contrasts.

While the Giants offense moved the ball methodically, grinding out tough yards and mixing in short passes with occasional deep shots, the Redskins' read-option attack drove up and down the field like a drag racer. Griffin and running back Alfred Morris ripped off big gains on the ground, a their cast of speedy receivers consistently racked up positive yards after the catch.

But the differences made for an oddly uneven encounter. By the time the Giants' Lawrence Tynes kicked his third field goal midway through the third quarter, the Giants had held the ball for 28:37 to Washington's 12:45 and had run 56 offensive plays compared with just 26 by the Redskins. But despite the Giants' statistical dominance, their lead was just six points. This time, it would not be enough and the Giants' season-long struggle to convert scoring opportunities into touchdowns saw the game slip away.

"We've been going through it all year," said running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who finished with 103 yards on 24 carries. "We've just got to finish every play and we didn't."

The game had the feel of a do-or-die matchup between these divisional rivals and on a balmy December night, with the temperatures touching 60 degrees before kickoff, things got predictably heated.

When Morris fumbled in the third quarter, a melee ensued in which Giants defensive tackle Linval Joseph and Washington guard Will Montgomery appeared to kick at each other. Both players were later hit with personal fouls, though replays suggested they were fortunate to avoid ejections.

For much of the first half, the game was downright sloppy. On their first possession, the Giants advanced deep into Washington territory, but the promising drive was derailed by a false-start penalty on Sean Locklear and they settled for a field goal. Their next foray into scoring position failed to produce any points when Tynes shanked a 43-yard kick, only his fourth miss of the season.

Even the Redskins' opening touchdown was the result of a blunder. Griffin coughed up a fumble deep in Giants territory, but the loose ball looped fortuitously into the hands of Washington receiver Joshua Morgan, who ran in the touchdown from 13 yards out.

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